Keith’s note: the archetype for NASA outreach – beyond space enthusiasts – was the original NASA Art Program during Apollo. It expressed in images what math and physics could not. I recall seeing these images as a young boy and they served to heighten the excitement of what lay ahead. I am willing to state that everything NASA has done with and for the arts since that time has its roots in this program – including such things as the Golden Record on the twin Voyagers and the Pale Blue Dot image. According to “James Dean, Founding Director of NASA Art Program, Dies at 92 (NY Times): “James Dean, a landscape painter who ran a NASA program that invited artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell and Jamie Wyeth to document aspects of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, died on March 22 in Washington. He was 92. … Mr. Dean believed that artists offered a perspective that could not be found in photographs. “Their imaginations enable them to venture beyond a scientific explanation of the stars, the moon and the outer planets,” Mr. Dean and Bert Ulrich wrote in their book, “NASA/ART: 50 Years of Exploration” (2008).” Ad astra James Dean.

Keith’s note: According to NASA PAO “NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9, to provide an update on the agency’s lunar exploration plans for the benefit of all under Artemis. Audio of the briefing will stream live on NASA’s website.” So … what will be discussed? According to Reuters: “Senior NASA officials in recent months have been mulling plans to move the inaugural Artemis astronaut landing to the fourth mission, giving SpaceX and other contractors more practice before making the first such landing in half a century. NASA officials presented that option to the agency’s senior leadership last month, but it could not be determined if it chose that path. It was also unclear what the new target dates for the initial Artemis missions would be.” In 2004 NASA announced that America was going back to the Moon. 20 years later and that is still 3-4 years ahead. In 1961 NASA was challenged to go to the Moon by 1970. It got there early. When we did not know how to go to the Moon we did so faster and much cheaper. Now that we know a lot more about how to go to the Moon it takes us longer to repeat what was once so easy to do. What’s up with that? Update: here is NASA’s release. I live tweeted the presser on @NASAwatch

According to NASA PAO: “The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the passing of former NASA astronaut Col. (ret.) Frank Borman, who passed away Nov. 7, in Billings, Montana, at the age of 95. “Today we remember one of NASA’s best. Astronaut Frank Borman was a true American hero. Among his many accomplishments, he served as the commander of the Apollo 8 mission, humanity’s first mission around the Moon in 1968. “His lifelong love for aviation and exploration was only surpassed by his love for his wife Susan.” More. Ad Astra.

According to NASA PAO: “The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the passing of former NASA astronaut Rear Adm. (ret.) Thomas K. (TK) Mattingly II. “We lost one of our country’s heroes on Oct. 31. NASA astronaut TK Mattingly was key to the success of our Apollo Program, and his shining personality will ensure he is remembered throughout history.” More

Keith’s note: On the left is a full page ad in Monday’s issue of the Washington Post by AXA – a French multinational insurance company headquartered in Paris. Note the footprint is in gray soil by a strangely shaped boot. On the right is an actual photo of an Apollo 11 crew footprint on the lunar surface in 1969. Advertising copy is an art style. I get that. What were they trying to evoke with this image? After half a century one would assume that this is a lunar footprint – but how many people not alive at the time get the same impressionas that those of us who lived through it? Given its ubiquity its probably become iconic. Like the God/Adam finger touching image from the Sistine Chapel. But instead of using readily available (and often higher quality royalty free) images from NASA they re-create the footprint in a studio. Funny how they fake a moon footprint when so many people think that all of Apollo was faked, right? Anyway … A French company takes out an expensive full page ad in a prominent American news paper (and probably others) at a cost of millions using the human exploration of the Moon as a symbol of the risk taking they are citing as being important to progress. They never mention space. Nor do they mention Artemis or even exploration. They do not care about space in terms of their product line – but they certainly embrace the core risky notion that the whole Apollo thing embodied. They just throw the paradigm shaking/shifting trips to the Moon in your face as the penultimate risk/benefit exercise. It works. In reality it is a false lesson. You see, we got afraid of going back to the Moon after we went there. Half a century later were are less tolerant of risks involved, stumble when it comes to designs and budgets, and are taking far longer to even begin to match what we did half a century ago. NASA has a vast branding reach. The whole world was exited when Apollo was gearing up. I was there. I saw it. Now, NASA just goes through the motions with occasional flashy Artemis media things that are soon forgotten. Yet in China and India and elsewhere where Moon programs are all the rage, their citizens are in the streets cheering. What have these nations discovered that we have forgotten – and why is NASA so clueless as to how to bring back the excitement that going to the Moon once inspired my generation? Just sayin’

Keith’s note: According to a Pew Research Report released on Thursday, while Americans broadly support space – with some obvious enthusiasm – they are not all that sold on NASA’s Artemis Program to send humans back to the Moon – or on to Mars. According to the survey: “About seven-in-ten Americans say it is essential that the U.S. continue to be a world leader in space, while 30% say this is not an essential role for the country. Support for a U.S. leadership role in space is widely held across groups, including by majorities of Republicans and Democrats alike” and that “47% of Americans say they’ve done at least one of four space-related activities in the last year, including 26% who say they’ve looked at an image from a space telescope, such as the James Webb Space Telescope.” However “Just 12% of Americans say sending human astronauts to explore the moon should be a top priority for NASA, and only 11% say this about sending human astronauts to explore Mars. Larger shares think both of these things are not too important for NASA or that they should not be done (41% and 43%, respectively).” More at “Americans’ Views of Space: U.S. Role, NASA Priorities and Impact of Private Companies“

Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg Radio to talk about the Apollo 11 anniversary, Artemis, and the future of lunar exploration – and beyond. [Audio]

“Let us unite, with our eyes on the stars and our hearts full of determination, to build a future where space is not just a distant dream but a boundless frontier that enriches our lives on Earth and beyond. It took just 66 years to push the limits of possibility from the first powered flight of a few hundred yards to putting a man on the Moon. In the 54 years since that flight, we have continued to push the limits of what is possible; imagine where we might push those limits to tomorrow.” — From an OpEd by NewSpace Global President Joe Reagan: Apollo 11: A Small Step for a Man, a Giant Leap for Humankind, a Launchpad for the Space Economy

Keith’s note: I was just on Deutsche Welle TV and spoke about the legacy of Astronaut Walt Cunningham, the Apollo 7 mission, and The Artemis Generation. Audio below.

Keith’s note: I am trying to wrap my head around this thing that NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson keeps saying. Is the State Department putting him up to this? They do not seem to be doing any arm waving about it. Just Nelson. Oddly I do not seem to see anyone else saying it – except in some articles in China who think that America is trying to do the same thing in reaction to Bill Nelson making these claims.

According to ‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon published by the Guardian “The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned. The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas.The contest between the US and China, he added, was intensifying and the next two years could determine which country achieves an advantage. “It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” Nelson told Politico. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’